If We Build It, Will They Come? Health Coverage for Low and Moderate Income Adults

Nearly three-fifths of America’s uninsured are low-income adults. Nearly half of states have tried to cover low income adults in the past or through ongoing efforts. And, a dozen states are currently launching programs that test models of coverage for low and moderate income adults through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s State Health Access Program grants. National health reform legislation includes many provisions—a Medicaid expansion, individual mandate, insurance reform, subsidies—that have the potential to dramatically improve access to coverage for low and moderate income adults. This webinar discussed the experience of states emphasizing what has worked to date, how reform might affect those efforts and what states might explore before the reform provisions phase in.
Sonya Schwartz at NASHP provided an overview of experience in the states to date and federal health reform provisions likely to improve access to coverage for this population.
Richard Onizuka, Director of Health Care Policy at the Washington Health Care Authority, and Trish Riley, Director in the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance both discussed new and existing programs that cover low-income adults in their states, lessons learned, and how federal health reform legislation might affect these efforts.
Speaker: Anne Gauthier
Speaker: Richard Onizuka
Speaker: Sonya Schwartz
Speaker: Trish Riley